Medical device companies that are performing at the top of the market have something in common: they focus on ensuring their offerings are differentiated from the competition in ways that are of high importance to customers. These companies are listening to their customers, and customers are responding by purchasing.

While medical device manufacturing is a $43 billion dollar industry, it’s not exempt from creating a positive customer experience. In fact, according to McKinsey, 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they’re being treated. With a booming industry and a heavy emphasis on customer satisfaction, it’s more important than ever to keep clients at the center of your business strategy. Here are four steps to deploy a customer-centric marketing strategy to grow your medical device business.

Learn who your customers really are.

It may sound obvious, but gathering data about who actually buys your product goes a long way in creating a powerful marketing strategy. Start with the basics: demographics—job titles, job locations, number of years in the business, etc. Then, analyze deeper: evaluate purchase decisions, understand their purchase path, analyze their interactions on your website. How did they find your company in the first place? What factors drew them to you?

With this, create buyer personas for each type of customer. This information will level-set your foundation for a strategy with maximum impact.

Survey your customers and analyze the results.

Now that you have an idea of who your customers are, it’s time to talk to them. Figure out where your device fits into the marketplace among competing devices. Yes, you might have an idea of how your company fits into the competitive landscape, but turning the tables and asking your customer where they think your product ranks against the competition is an entirely different question.

A survey is also a great way to learn what factors are most important to customers when making a purchasing decision. Are positive patient outcomes the main factor, or is it device durability? It’s crucial for your healthcare company to deliver on top attributes that customers are looking for.

Once you send out your survey and collect responses, analytics are your best friend. With customer responses, you’re likely to learn a thing or two about how your company is perceived in the market and identify areas of opportunity.

For example, you might think that a factor like ease of use is an obvious feature of your product. However, because you don’t market your device as being easy to use, your customers might not have that impression at all. By surveying your customers for their views on the competitive landscape, you’ll uncover hidden attributes that make customers buy your product or areas in the market that aren’t being addressed—an area of opportunity for your company.

Employ the results of your survey in messaging.

After understanding your offering's strengths, create marketing messaging based on those attributes. Then, make plans to improve attributes where your offering isn’t as strong—whether that be through product changes, new offerings, or a combination of both.

Through marketing messaging, there are various ways to show how your products exhibit top attributes as named by customers. Depending on your product offering, you can determine the most relevant vernacular to incorporate in marketing materials.

Ensure customer success

Once you adapt your messaging to better fit customer needs, you should expect to see the positive impact on sales and inquiries. You listened to your current and potential customers, and they’re responding by giving you their business. Now is not the time to fail them; keep them engaged.

Make sure your customers have tools and content available to them to make their lives easier when using your product. Check in with them, and make sure they’re seeing success with your product. Deliver them a consistent stream of content with best practices and tips for their jobs. This way, you’ll not only help them, you’ll keep them as a customer beyond their first purchase.

Customers are at the heart of your business. With a plethora of choices available to them, it’s vital for your marketing messaging to resonate to get the sale. With the steps outlined here, you’re sure to set your communications and messaging strategy for maximum customer impact.